Tufting pattern controlled by looper



2 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 21, 1959 F. w. E. HOESELBARTH TUFTING PATTERNCONTROLLED BY LOOPER Filed July 5, 1955 1.. Q2 ATTORNEYS- United StatesPatent "ice TUFIING PATTERN CONTROLLED BY LOOPER Frank W. E.Hoeselharth, Carlisle, Pa., assignor to C. H.

Masland & Sons, Carlisle, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania ApplicationJuly 5, 1955, Serial No. 519,823

4 Claims. (Cl. 112-79) I The present invention is designed for controlby looper action of the tufting where a group or gang of needlescarrying individual yarn ends force loops of yarn through a backingfabric to form pile projections in a carpet, rug or the like.

A purpose of the invention is to permit the control at will of thecharacter of pile projections formed by an individual yarn end, so as topermit for example selective production of cut pile or uncut pile orselective production of pile of different characters, for exampledifferent heights.

The invention is believed to find its widest application in theformation of pile of cut and uncut character in accordance with apattern control mechanism.

Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic section transverse to the length of theneedle bar, showing the looper structure employed in the presentinvention.

Figure 2 is a perspective of the mechanism of Figure 1.

Figure 2a is a schematic representation of a master pattern control.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary interior perspective of the cut loop positionsegment.

Figure 4 is a view illustrating the staggering of the solenoids on theuncut loop position segment.

In the prior art it has not been possible to obtain needled pile fabricshaving loops which are of different character, such as cut and uncut orhigh and low, with pattern control so that any individual loop can bemade to have either one character or another character. The practice hasbeen instead to produce rows of loops of one character and alternaterows of loops of different character, but without the ability to selectand predetermine that any desired loop in a particular row will be ofone character and the next loop in that row will be of anothercharacter.

By the present invention it is made possible to select any particularloop and determine that it will be of a certain character different fromthe preceding loop or the following loop in the same longitudinal row,and also from the adjoining loops in the same transverse row. Thus it ispossible by the present invention to make all of the loops in one areauncut and all the loops in an adjoining area cut or vice versa,according to any desired figure or design. Likewise it is possible inaccordance with the invention to produce high loops in one area and lowloops in another area, but, of course, there can be a multiple ofvariants; for example, the loops in one area may be high uncut loops andthe loops in another area may be low cut loops.

The invention is illustrated herein by showing a standard needlingmachine which may be a Cobble machine and omitting features which arewell-known such as the needle bar with its operating mechanism and theyarn feed, and showing features which are new, such as the rockersupport of the loopers and the selective motion of the loopers.

The illustration is intended to be diagrammatic, and it 2,882,845Patented Apr. 21, 1959 will, of course, be evident that variations willbe produced as required to meet the needs of service.

The needle 20 which is one of a gang of needles on a needle bar (notshown), is moved up and down as indicated by arrow 20a (see Figure 2)along with the other needles 20 by the needle bar and receives yarn 21from a yarn feed not shown to advance the yarn through a backing fabric22 resting on a slotted anvil plate 23 as well known to form pile 21'.

Each needle cooperates with a looper or hook 24 which is placed belowthe anvil plate in conventional practice, and which is manipulated toperform the usual looper functions by engaging in the newly formed loopand holding it as the needle is retracted.

According to the present invention the looper has three positions A, Band C, and, depending upon the particular position achieved, the loopereither holds the loop as the needle is retracted, moves the loopto acutting position, or moves the loop to a remote non-cutting positionwhere the cutter is not able to engage the loop.

In accordance with the invention the looper 24 has a shank 25 remotefrom its hook end which engages in a slot 26 on a rocker 27, the looperbeing suitably held in place by setscrew 28. A rocker is individual toeach needle position and to each looper, there being a large number ofrockers which journal on a common shaft 30 extending from side to sideof the machine. Each rocker has circular exterior surfaces 31 and rideson roller bearings 32 supported in a race 33, the roller bearings andraces extending in a series from one side to the other of the machine soas to give supplemental journal sup.- port to the shaft 30 additional tothe bearing support provided at the sides (not shown).

Each of the rockers turns and is guided in an arcuate slot 34 in acutter segment 35 and also in a similar slot 36 in an uncut loop segment37. The segments are mounted by links on a transverse shaft 38, on whichthe links journal.

A supporting bar 39 runs from side to side of the machine and carries adivider 40 for each looper position, the divider extending in andengaging one side of the looper below the hook and preventing deflectionof the looper laterally. The other side of the looper is engaged by acutter 41 which has a restricted range of oscillation back and forth assuggested by the arrows 42. The cutter presses the looper, which issomewhat elastic, against the divider. Normally the cutter will be aflexible element acting like a spring, the looper will have slightflexibility and the divider will be a rigid element.

A cutting segment 35 at intervals along its length is pivotally mountedat 43' by links 43 mounted on the shaft 38. The segment 35 is guided inarcuate tracks 43 by rollers 43 and the tracks are concentric with theshaft 30. The links 43 carry follower rollers 44 which follow a seriesof identical cams 45 on a transverse cam shaft 46 extending across themachine. The segment 35 has at one end on the inside a ratchet dog 47which runs the entire width of the machine, and which at each rocker isadapted to engage in a ratchet tooth 48 to manipulate the rocker in aclockwise direction from its position A engaging stop 50 under theretraction of tension spring 51 acting from anchorage 52 to springabutment 53, to position B. The tooth 48 is relieved at 53 to permitovertravel when segment 37 acts.

Segment 37 at the opposite side pivotally connects at 54 with a seriesof links 54. The segment 37 is guided by rollers 54 following arcuatetracks 54 concentric with the shaft 30. The links 54 carry followerrollers 55 which engage cams 56 on a cam shaft 57 extending across themachine and at each rocker position the segment 37 carries a solenoid 58which when energized moves a latch plunger 60 forward to latchingengagement in a tooth notch 61 of the rocker, the latch being retractedby ten- I sion spring 62 acting from a suitable anchorage and engaged inthe plunger.

Whereas the segment 35 moves between positions A and B, the segment 37moves from position A to position C. A master pattern control 70 (seeFigure 2a) is provided, which may suitably be a rotating cylinder 71having a series of contacts or having projections 72 which closeswitches 73, with an electric circuit from a power source to each one ofthe group of individual solenoids 58. In order to permit closepositioning of the solenoids laterally the solenoids are staggered asshown in Figures 2 and 4, and the notches 61 on the respective rockersare placed in angular positions which cooperate with the difierentsolenoids.

In operation after the needle moves down, both segments are retracted bytheir cams and all of the loopers for all of the needles move towardposition A under the action of retracting springs 51. The needle hasmoved down until its eye is below the looper, and the looper as wellknown engages the loop of yarn above the eye of the needle in thisposition.

The needle now moves up or retracts, the looper remaining in position A.As the needle reaches a position adjacent its fully raised position,segment 35 advances carrying all of the rockers with it by engagement inteeth 48, and carrying all of the loopers toward position B. At the sametime selection takes place and at any needle position where selectionoccurs the solenoid 58 is energized by the well-known pattern mechanism,which engages the latch in tooth 61. The pattern control mechanism canbe of the well-known character employed in sign flashers or othermultiple circuit controlled devices. At the same time the segment 37advances under the action of its cams, and it carries those rockerswhich have been selected to position C.

At the time that the loopers have moved to position B or position C asthe case may be, and the needle is substantially fully raised, thecutter 42 is energized to oscillate in the upper right hand direction inFigure 1, cutting all loops which are on the loopers in position B. Allloops which have moved to position C however are not cut because theyhave been cast off by the looper at position C and they are no longerheld in position where they can be cut.

. Thus, as a result two different types of loops are obtained, one ofthe types being cut and the other being uncut.

It will be evident that the principles of the invention can be appliedby moving the looper to one of two or more positions, to pull out theloop to difierent lengths or otherwise to manipulate the loop, and theseprinciples need not be devoted exclusively to forming cut and uncutloops.

In view of my invention and disclosure variations and modifications tomeet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident toothers skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of myinvention without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claimall such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope ofmy claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Mechanism for producing needled pile fabric including a gang ofreciprocable needles and a series of loopers individually cooperatingwith the respective needles in combination with means for moving theloopers to an initial position beneath the needles to engage yarnadvanced by the needles to form loops and to spaced positionsrespectively where the loops on the corresponding loopers are cut on theloopers and released uncut from the loopers, said means being responsiveto pattern control as to which of said loopers take said loop cuttingposition and said loop releasing position, and cutter means adjacent tothe loopers in said cutting position to sever the loops on thecorresponding loopers in that position.

'2. Mechanism for producing needled pile fabric including a gang ofreciprocable needles and a series of loopers individually cooperatingwith the respective needles, in combination with means for advancing theloopers to .an initial position beneath the needles to engage yarnadvanced by the needles to form loops and for retracting t-he loopers toa yarn cutting position on one side of the initial position and movingthe loopers farther to said side to a loop releasing position where thecorre-' sponding loops are released uncut, said means being responsiveto pattern control as to which of said loopers take said loop cuttingposition and said loop releasing position, and cutter means adjacent tothe loopers in said cutting position to sever the loops on thecorresponding loopers in that position.

3. Mechanism according to claim 2, in which said means comprises rockersmounting the individual loopers, each of the rockers having notches atthe outside, a shaft journalling the various rockers, first meansoutside the rockers adapted to engage in one of the notches of saidrockers, second means having latches adapted to engage in another of thenotches of the rockers, means for advancing the first means to move theloopers to said cutting position, means for selectively actuating thelatches, and means for advancing the second means including the latchesto achieve loop releasing position of the corresponding loopers.

4. Mechanism according to claim 3, in combination with bearings engagingthe sides of the rockers remote from the sides at which the needles arelocated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,772,993 Gruttes Aug. 12, 1930 1,970,703 Loos Aug. 21, 1934 1,984,330Boyce Dec. 11, 1934 2,411,268 Hamrich Nov. 19, 1946

